


North Pole - South Pole

by I_Breathe_Cute_Gay_Ships



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, BaekYeol - Freeform, Byun Baekhyun & Park Chanyeol are Best Friends, ChanBaek - Freeform, Confused Park Chanyeol, Cute Ending, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Enemies, Genius Baekhyun, I Love You, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, M/M, Park Chanyeol Being an Idiot, Power Bottom Byun Baekhyun, Top Park Chanyeol, cute everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 01:59:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13308012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Breathe_Cute_Gay_Ships/pseuds/I_Breathe_Cute_Gay_Ships
Summary: Byun Baekhyun, a Child Prodigy with an IQ of 287 and Park Chanyeol (let's not mention his two digit IQ) used to be neighbours until some suited white men showed up at the doorstep of the Byun's one fine day and took Baekhyun with them to a 'school of gifted' in the West. Chanyeol couldn't have been happier to see the biggest curse of his life finally leave.But no one told him ten years later, that Byun Baekhyun was coming back to town.Living diagonally opposite to each other and Chanyeol not being able to stand the sight of Baekhyun, only heaven knows where this is heading.





	North Pole - South Pole

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily Unbetad! Proceed at your own risk lol
> 
> I wasn't particularly inspired by anything. The thought randomly came to my mind and then I just couldn't stop writing.
> 
> Chanyeol was usually portrayed as the one who first gets to say "I'll keep you safe" in some way or the other. I thought this would be a unique, refreshing change since Baekhyun gets to say it here, without really being the Alpha, the CEO, the top or someone who holds power. He's himself and Chanyeol is himself, the story however is different. You'll see. 
> 
> I don't know. This is my first story here, I hope someone reads it and if you do, thank you! I love you. Please let me know your views. I'd really appreciate it! <3

~~~~“Fuck that alien!” Chanyeol swore for the nth time that morning as he continued to channel his violent anger and spite on every unlucky pebble that lay on the tracks on Chanyeol’s way to school.

“Bro.. ”, Choi Tae Joon began, rubbing his temples

and “..fucking Stop!”, Lee Jong Hyun ended it for him, 

as Zico sighed, rolling his eyes at Chanyeol whose childish tantrums would see no end every time it concerned their old neighbor, Byun Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol only let out a low primal growl as he continued abusing every pebble he found on the track.

 

———————————————————————————————————

 

It was recess. Four hours had passed since the three boys witnessed Chanyeol fuming once again, over Byun Baekhyun that morning. 

It wasn’t a surprise since hating Baekhyun was a part of Chanyeol’s daily rituals. Wake up —> think about Baekhyun’s demise, brush teeth —> plot Baekhyun’s demise, shower —> laugh thinking about Baekhyun slipping on the bathroom tiles and dying, have breakfast —> inwardly chuckle thinking about Baekhyun choking on the bread and dying, leave home —> wishing when he comes back from school his mother FINAL-FUCKING-LY gives him the much-awaited news of Byun Baekhyun’s demise.

But today’s events were a clear indication of the fact that Chanyeol had met his father on his way out. Mr. Park worked nightshifts. He usually got back home after Chanyeol left for school and left home before Chanyeol got back from school. Chanyeol purposely avoided all contact with him but sometimes he’d leave his office early and end up getting back home before Chanyeol left. Those were the days Chanyeol hated Baekhyun 10x more than usual. 

The Parks and Byuns were family friends. Their fathers work in the same company and they both work night shifts together. They have been friends since elementary school. Everyone in their small town knew each other but Mr. Park and Mr. Byun were what people usually call “best friends”. Everything in their lives was perfectly in sync. They grew up together, graduated together, started working together, got married to their beautiful wives on the same day in the same church, together, had their first child the same year, decided to get their first children married to each other since Mr. Byun had a boy and Mr. Park had a girl, they had their second child the same year as well. Everything was perfect.

* It was all perfect but Baekhyun began speaking at the age of 3 months and Chanyeol could barely hold his head straight. It was all perfect but Baekhyun was already reading ancient literature and astrophysics at the age of 4 and Chanyeol was struggling to hold his pencil right. It was all perfect when the word spread about Baekhyun being a childhood prodigy as he designed a car engine that could run on energy drawn from vacuum in the backyard of his house with scrap materials at the age of 7 and Chanyeol was still struggling to remember the multiplication table of the first 9 digits. 

It was all perfect until one fine day a helicopter landed on the open fields of their small town for the first time in its history and a few suited white men stepped out of it heading straight for the Byun’s worn out old house where they spent an hour discussing something with the elder Byuns and as they stepped out holding a luggage bag that Mr. Byun generally carried on his short trips out of town, much to everyone’s surprise Byun Baekhyun followed them into their helicopter and left for what people later found out was a special school of ‘gifted children’ in the States, becoming the first person in town to ever go abroad or even ride a helicopter for that matter.

Park Chanyeol had always felt small next to Byun Baekhyun ever since they shared cradles but that day he felt absolutely non-existent when he stared at the helicopter in the horizon with dreamy eyes and said that he wanted to fly in a helicopter and go where Baekhyun was going but his father said, “you’re too dumb for that, son” and his sister laughed at him while his mother looked liked she pitied him as they went back home, leaving him in the midst of the vast expanse of harvested crops, feeling worthless, hopeless, meaningless and betrayed. Most of all, he felt lonely. He didn’t know why, but nothing was perfect ever since.

What he did know though, was that he absolutely loathed and despised Byun Baekhyun’s very existence.  If the ‘Child Prodigy’ didn’t exist, Chanyeol’s life would’ve be a ton -fucking- better. 

 

However, that day on the crop-field, in the midst of his inner turmoil and tear-blurred vision he missed the sad smile and silent tears of a petite boy waving at him from inside the helicopter for what would be the last time they would meet in ten years.

 

——————————————————————————————————

 

“Do you think he knows?” Jong Hyun whispered from across the lunch table barely audible enough for Tae Joon.

“He’d have internally combusted by now if he did.” Tae Joon hissed.

Chanyeol sitting next to Jong Hyun, was busy huffing-puffing and grumbling incoherently while violently poking and smashing the green peas on his plate.

“Then what’s with him?” Jong Hyun’s whisper might have been a little too loud for his own good for Chanyeol had heard him now, was fuming and glaring at him, preparing himself for the rant and poor Zico just wanted to eat in peace for the love of the meat on his plate!

“What’s with me? WHAT’S WITH M-” Chanyeol’s large hand slammed on their lunch table loud enough to silence the entire cafeteria in one go. All eyes were on the four handsome male students who were the center of attention of all of the school’s population anyways and yet they could feel everyone’s burning gazes stinging their skin like they’ve never gotten used to it. “I SAW THE OLD MAN ON MY WAY OUT THIS MORNING AND HE STILL FUCKING HAS THAT SAME LOOK ON HIS FACE HE DID THAT DAY TEN YEARS AGO! HE STILL FUCKING THINKS HE CREATED A WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT THE FUCK I WANT TO FUCKING STRANGLE THEM ALL TO DEATH!” and the next moment Chanyeol was stomping out of the exit leaving his friends to deal with the embarrassment that followed as the entire food court erupted into whispers and giggles, most of them being girls talking about how hot Chanyeol looked when he was mad and that he should do it more often.

“Listen,” Zico doesn’t usually speak so when he does, everyone pays attention. That and also, he’s funny. He took a deep breath before continuing in all seriousness. “I just want to eat my meat in peace.”

“Bro, that sounds so wrong.” Jong Hyun shuddered.

“Look,” Zico picked a piece of meat from his plate with his chopsticks and brought it close to Jong Hyun’s face, “you can use this in the nurse’s office if they run out of ice.” He ate it afterward and added, “cold meat tastes like dead meat.” before wincing as he swallowed.

“All this just because he saw his Dad’s face this morning? Fucktard has it all in his head. We’ve met his Dad several times. Poor ol’ man has no such ‘look’ on his face that the idiot talks about.” Tae Joon shook his head dejectedly.

“Now you see,” Zico gestured for the other two to come closer and continued, “imagine, Baekhyun was here. Back in town.” He let it sink in and when it did both Jong Hyun and Tae Joon gasped in sync, a look of horror marring their handsome features. “Exactly.” Zico leaned back in his seat, rubbing his belly and burping in satisfaction.

 

———————————————————————————————————

 

Byun Baekhyun was coming back home. After ten years of studying abroad, partaking in several scientific researches towards the advancement of mankind in the field of medical and space sciences, gaining himself a quadruple Ph.D, several awards, becoming a renowned world leader and strangely a sex icon too (I mean who isn’t attracted to handsome, hygienic, sane, smart people?), Byun Baekhyun was finally coming back home after ten years with an important project that involved changing his hometown into a smart city that entirely ran on alternate energy sources. No longer would they have to work so hard in their fields and mines all day. Most, if not all work would be done by A.I. and the town would have its local data-centers and top-notch security on both physical and virtual levels. Smart Schools would be set up for children of all ages and elders would be educated on basic living standards with current technology. The entire project was single-handedly funded by Byun Baekhyun’s company. 

Yes, he was rich. 

It was the talk of the town since the last three weeks when the word first reached the town, however, this word never reached Park Chanyeol for the whole town was aware of his hostile mental attitude towards the elder male, including the Byuns and people were afraid Chanyeol would say or do something that would make Baekhyun change his mind about his return since everybody knew the kind of effect Chanyeol had on Baekhyun. 

Everybody but Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol was too dumb to notice and too young to remember. 

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

It was a Sunday morning. What the fuck was all the commotion about? Chanyeol rubbed his sandy eyes and ruffled his bed hair, squinting as he adjusted to the morning light. His alarm clock read 7 AM. He peeped out of his window spotting a huge crowd of reporters outside the Byun’s residence. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Every time Baekhyun did something ‘remarkable’ somewhere around the world, a bunch of journalists would show up at the doorstep of the Byun’s residence that was now a mansion, to interview his family. Funny thing though was how they asked the same questions every time, “How do you feel about your son’s recent achievement?” being the most common and then proceeding to the regulars - “Please advice the children around the world on how to be more like your son!”, “Is Baekhyun currently single?”, “Are all members of your family geniuses or did you have anyone in your ancestral history who was a genius too?”… blah blah…

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, battling the urge to pick up whatever his hands could grab and throw them at the reporters as he shut his window with a loud bang and slipped back into his covers to get a few more hours of sleep before his friends would show up to drag him to watch a local basketball game this evening in a neighbouring town. 

 

As expected his friends did show up sooner than he expected, to drag him to the local basketball game in the neighboring town that they had been talking about all evening yesterday. “What’s the hurry? There’s still time!”, he yelled as they impatiently poked his sloth ass to speed up with unlocking his bicycle and getting it on the road because they wanted to be seated in the front row. 

On his way out, he didn’t fail to notice how the reporters were still outside the Byun residency and also what looked a Lamborghini, parked somewhere inside the gates. He figured that’s what the fuss was about. Baekhyun probably gifted his family a Lamborghini that arrived earlier today and these jobless reporters and some people of his town were here to get a desperate glimpse of it.

He set his feet on the bicycle paddles and positioned himself to push forward when, “Baekhyun!” yelled one of the reporters, “Baekhyun, please give us some more details about the project to transform your hometown!” “Baekhyun!” another yelled, “How does it feel coming back home after ten years?” “Baekhyun!” and it kept coming.

Chanyeol felt the ground slip from under his feet. He stood paralyzed, his head a little dizzy and mouth agape, listlessly staring at the road he was supposed to take, the road his friends had already set themselves on and were paddling as fast as they possibly could, in order to attend some godforsaken local basketball game. He stared at their backs disappearing into the horizon without really registering anything in particular. His heart was beating so loud he was afraid he’d pop a blood vessel. _Baekhyun was here_. He was back in town. Back in his house. Diagonally opposite Chanyeol’s house. The person his entire life had been centered around since he first came into existence, whom he thought he would never meet again, whom he’d rather be dead than meet again, was back in his life. He was failing to comprehend the situation and figure how to react despite him playing this scene in his head multiple times for ten whole years.

“If he comes back, I will kill him with my own bare hands.” had been the ultimate goal of the teenager’s life for the last ten years. It’s not that he had changed his mind. Nor was he a pussy. No. Absolutely, not. He just needed to catch his breath for a second and bring his heart rate down to normal. Yes. That’s exactly the reason he abandoned his bicycle outside the Byun’s gates, dashed into his house and was currently curled up under his duvet unaware of the sweat beads covering his forehead.

“This is just a dream.” he whispered to himself, “A fucking nightmare. Just go back to sleep Chanyeol. When you wake up tomorrow morning, all of this will be gone. This is just in your head. Go back to sleep.”, he kept chanting to himself like a mantra that he believed would change his reality. Eventually, he did, however, manage to fall asleep.

 

The best thing about not being smart is to be able to forget things easily. Chanyeol woke up the next morning, clueless as to why, how and when he fell asleep. So, he resumed his daily rituals. Wake up —> think about Baekhyun’s-

…

_Holy Sh*t_

 

He scuffled to his feet and dashed out of his house halting right outside the Byun’s gates. Much to his relief, there were no reporters. There was no Lamborghini. There was no trace of Byun Baekhyun either. He sighed, scratching his nape as he dragged his feet back to his room, then his bathroom and brush his teeth —> plot Baekhyun’s demise…

 

——————————————————————————————————

 

“Bro, where were you last evening? The Tarzans won man!”

“They didn’t just win, the match was fucking savage! They legit butchered their opponents!”

And Tae Joon and Jong Hyun continued discussing the basketball match with stars in their eyes the rest of their way to school while Zico munched on his stir-fry hotdogs and Chanyeol kept kicking every pebble that dared come in his way.

 

 

———————————————————————————————————

 

The announcement said that they had a special guest coming over for a lecture today and all students were requested to take their seats in the main hall. Chanyeol wanted to bunk but Tae Joon was curious,  Jong Hyun liked the velvet seats in the main hall because “they are so comfortable to sleep in, dude!” and Zico was too bored to take sides or think so he let himself be dragged by Tae Joon and Chanyeol had no choice but to follow.

 

For the next twenty minutes, all faculty and staff seemed to be slowly coming in and filling up the front seats and all student council members were busy setting up the stage and tables, bringing in water bottles and bouquets and making other necessary arrangements to welcome the special guest. Slowly reporters began occupying the empty spaces in the hall with their mics, recorders, and cameras and Chanyeol couldn’t help but wonder what all the fuss was about. 

 

Then it happened. They introduced a certain someone followed by a huge round of applause but Chanyeol couldn’t hear or see anything after, not because the entire hall was pin-drop-silenced and all lights were out except for the one illuminating the ethereal male at the podium on the dais getting ready to address his audience but because he was internally spazzing and visibly breaking into cold sweat. He was too far gone to notice his friends uncomfortably shifting in their seats next to him and side-eyeing him. He was so mad he could feel the tip of his ears fuming as he huffed bouts of hot air through his flared-up nostrils. His jaws hurt from clenching them so tight and his eyeballs might fall out of their sockets any moment now, thanks to all the glares he was shooting in the petite male’s direction. 

He wanted to get up and leave the hall but he knew all exits were closed. He felt Zico elbow him, whispering something in the lines of “hold your horses” but Baekhyun was on stage, talking about his plans to change their town and lecturing people almost his own age about success and knowledge like he was so much better than them. Like he was so much better than Park Chanyeol. Because Park Chanyeol was “too dumb for that”. Park Chanyeol was “too dumb” only because a Byun Baekhyun existed who was “too fucking smart”.

And then there was absolute silence. Byun Baekhyun had stopped his speech midway and was staring at him. Why was he staring at him? He looked around and everyone was staring at him. He felt a tug at his sleeve from a Tae Joon who was trying to disappear into his seat for some reason with a Jong Hyun next to him who had already passed out, drooling from one corner of his mouth and… had he always been this taller than them?

 

“Do you have something you’d like to share?” 

 

Baekhyun’s voice brought his attention back to the stage. The elder’s voice had gotten heavier since the last time they spoke with each other ten years ago but it still felt like pure wild honey running through his fingers. Wait. Was he talking to Chanyeol? Why would Chanyeol have anything to share with Byun Baekhyun? Doesn’t Byun Baekhyun already have everything and more? Chanyeol’s dumbfounded expression might have spoken louder than his sealed lips because,

 

“I’m sorry, you abruptly stood up so I thought you wanted to say something”, came the polished male’s polite response. 

 

Was Byun Baekhyun blushing? Wait. Who stood up? Chanyeol took another look around the hall and realized he was standing erect on both feet, fists balled, chest heaving, jaw clenched and nostrils flared, with a Tae Joon and Zico in their seats on either side of him, hiding their faces and pretending to not know him. How he wished he could do the same right now because this was beyond embarrassing but there was no going back now so he figured he might as well man up and ‘share’ his thoughts with their honorable guest anyway.

“ I-I…” _fucking hate you and your polished Western arse and who the fuck gave you the right to transform our town and its people without our permission? What makes you think you have the right to decide on our behalf? Wasn’t ruining my life enough that now you are set out to ruin a hundred more at once? Crawl back into your hellhole of geniusness and fucking die!_ “…need to use the washroom.”

 

“Oh!” followed by an awkward silence was Baekhyun’s befuddled response and Chanyeol took it to himself to step out of the row of seats and scuttle towards one of the exits in order to leave for the washroom but a huge man suited in all black wouldn’t let him leave until Baekhyun seemingly gestured him to move and he complied, opening the door for Chanyeol who never returned after that. 

 

——————————————————————————

 

He dumped his bag on the chair and dropped his dead weight, face first onto his bed. His entire day mostly comprised listening to Tae Joon and Jong Hyun mocking his “I need to use the washroom” in a stuttering girly tone and Zico’s high pitched laughter and desk-banging at that.  Jong Hyun had slept through the whole event. Who even told him about it in such details? Fuck you, Zico! Honestly, he was so exhausted, he just wanted to sleep and not see or think about Byun Baekhyun anymore today. 

He heard a knock on his door and from the softness of it he knew it was his Noona.

“Yeah?”

Yoora pushed the door open slightly and poked her head inside. “Did I disturb you?”

“No, Noona. I was just lying on my bed. Come in!” Chanyeol quickly rushed to switch the lights on as Yoora squatted on his bed making herself comfortable. “All okay?” Chanyeol asked, seating himself on the chair in his study.

“I should be asking you that.”

Chanyeol could only manage a dejected sigh in response as Yoora stretched her hand out and ruffled his bushy hair.

“You know you can talk to me about anything, Chanyeol-ah.”

His sister’s tone was warm and welcoming as usual. It put Chanyeol’s unsettling emotions at ease. 

“I got to know from Baekbeom that Baekhyun was invited to your school today. How did it go?”

“It could have been worse.” 

His sister looked at him sympathetically. Her soft smile forced one on Chanyeol’s face too.

“I just..” He took a sharp breath and exhaled slowly trying to calm his nerves. “..I just… don’t want to see him ever again, Noona.”

Yoora seemed to be fidgeting and shifting uncomfortably in her spot which caught Chanyeol’s attention. 

“What is it?”

His sister looked hesitant. His brows furrowed deeper. 

“Noona?”, his tone was soft and encouraging this time.

“A-Abeoji..” she gulped, avoiding his eyes, “A-Abeoji i-invited the Byun’s.. over.. for dinner tonight.”

Chanyeol clenched his fists so tight he was sure his nails drew blood. He looked like he was about to explode any moment which frightened his sister all the more. Everyone knew it was ugly when Chanyeol lost his temper.

“Ch-Chanyeol-ah..” Yoora tried to reach for his hand but Chanyeol withdrew before she could and abruptly stood up. 

The last time Yoora saw him that day was when he stomped out of his room with his bicycle keys.

 

——————————————————————————————————

 

The last thing he wanted was to see Byun Baekhyun twice in one day so it was perfectly fine even if he was shivering all alone in the cold night. At least it was a full moon night. His favorite retreat spot was brightly lit by the moonlight and the vast expanse of cloudless sky was covered by an ocean of stars. This had been his retreat spot for the last ten years. Exactly the spot where Byun Baekhyun took off in the helicopter that day. The biggest curse of his life had finally left. It made this location invaluable to him. 

He laid on his back, arms crossed behind and cushioning his head, stargazing in peace amidst the open grassfield. They stopped growing crops here around six years ago so Chanyeol took it to himself to take care of his patch of land that was abandoned by its rightful owners and diligently grew lush green grass here. Not the whole field, just his precious patch of land. He had even gone a little further with his obsession and roughly fenced his area with thorny bushes and shrubs. When he was here, he felt like he was the only person in this world. He had never even brought his school friends here. Only his bicycle which had special access since, without it, it was impossible for him to go anywhere. His lanky bowed legs weren’t meant for walking long distances.

 

Chanyeol liked Baekbeom so much. He had always looked up to his Hyung in all of his growing years. Baekbeom was everything Chanyeol imagined himself to be as an adult. He was happy that Baekboem would always be a part of his life since Yoora and he were set to be married very soon which is why Chanyeol understood that the Byuns and Parks always invited each other for dinners and hung out together a lot. Frankly, that made him very happy all these years but that had all changed now because of the new or rather old addition to the Byun family. Too bad he will never be able to hang out with the Byuns anymore. He wondered what would be the next happiness that Byun Baekhyun takes away from him as his eyes slowly fluttered shut and he slipped into a peaceful slumber.

 

—————————————————————————————————

 

Chanyeol hated to be woken up by noises or people. It was always his slow-buzzing alarm clock that woke him up but this morning was different as he felt a pointed blunt object poking the side of his shoulder. He sat up straight, squinting as his eyes slowly adjusted to the morning light, brushing and scratching his limbs and stretching his body that was sore from sleeping on the flat hard ground all night. 

“Listen, man, you’ve gotta get up”, a heavy voice of who looked like a construction worker in his late twenties, spoke. Seems like it was him who was poking Chanyeol with the back of a pen on his shoulder earlier.

Chanyeol was too fazed out to grasp anything. He had just woken up, for the love of God! He subsequently brought himself to successfully stand on both feet after wobbling and almost tipping over, twice. “M’ sorry.. what?” he asked the man, rubbing the sand out of his eyes and reaching for the handle of his bicycle.

“They’re constructing a Wind Farm on this field, kid. Don’t lurk around here anymore. It’s heavy duty construction. You can get hurt.”

“..Who is?”, Chanyeol asked even though he had a strong inkling, because he hoped somewhere in a corner of his heart, for a different answer.

 

“Mr. Byun Baekhyun’s Alternate Energy Project Team.” 

 

And just like that, right in front of Chanyeol’s eyes the man pressed a few buttons on his tablet summoning five little machines that gathered around his retreat spot and began pulling out each bush and shrub he had planted and taken care of since the last six years, by their roots and tossing them into a pile of trash with their robotic hands. Roaring sounds of huge machines could be heard in the vicinity that were digging massive holes everywhere in that field. His grass would be dug out soon too.

 

Warm tears began to sting the corner of his eyes. His vision blurred and his mind zapped as violent rage took him over. He clutched his bicycle handles with all his might to save his knees from giving out. _What would be the next happiness Byun Baekhyun would take away from him?_

 

——————————————————————————————————

 

He doesn’t remember how he landed here but he was outside the Byun residency violently banging at the locked gates, calling for Byun Baekhyun to come out. He half expected cops to show up soon due to the high-tech virtual security guarding Byun’s Residency but they didn’t. Instead, a petite man in light grey furry flip-flops and oversized pastel pink pullover and pajamas was walking towards him, rubbing the sleep in his eyes, licking his pink lips moist and sniffling a runny nose. He squinted as he came closer, trying to take a better look at the individual standing on the other side of the gate. He must have recognized Chanyeol since his almond eyes widened in surprise as he quickly jogged over to the gate and reached for a panel on the right. After adding some technical inputs into the security system the gates opened to let Chanyeol in and proceeded to automatically close behind him. 

 

Baekhyun was beaming at Chanyeol now. His almond eyes disappearing into crescents. His soft thin lips parting to reveal a perfect row of pearly whites and Chanyeol was fighting the urge to strangle him. 

“Baekbeom asked me to stay over, I-I don’t know why..” he blinked innocently, pouting like a newborn, “..so, I-I didn’t attend the dinner at your place last night. I’m sorry, Ch-Chanyeol. Please, don’t be mad at me.” His words came in soft whispers. A hint of red dusted his cheeks and earlobes. He stared at his flip-flops, rocking back and forth on his heels and fidgeting with his slim fingers.

Chanyeol was beginning to forget why he was mad. He internally cursed his low IQ levels for it.

“Please come in. Eomma and Abeoji slept over at your place and Hyung took Noona for a late night drive after dinner last night. He texted me that they made an impromptu decision to go on a trip out of town. They will be back in the evening.” Baekhyun explained as he guided Chanyeol into his mansion. It was a beautiful house indeed. Everything seemed to work on it’s own. The temperature inside the house was a little too warm which reminded him that Baekhyun always liked it warmer at home even when they were little. It was one of the reasons why he snuggled up to Chanyeol whenever they were together since the taller had always naturally been a warm person. 

“What do you think? Does it look nice?” Baekhyun asked earnestly to which Chanyeol couldn’t help but nod. He smiled in satisfaction before continuing, “I’ve been away since I was so young, I don’t know my own family much. I’m nervous around them. I hope I’m doing things right. I want to make up for the time we’ve lost which is why I want to give them all the luxuries I can afford.” He guided Chanyeol up through a flight of stairs into a spacious room at the end of the hallway. “This is my room. Come on in.” Chanyeol did. “Would you like something to eat or drink?” Chanyeol shook his head. He had lost his appetite.

It was a strange room. There was no bed. 

“You seem to be wondering why there is no bed.” Baekhyun smiled cheekily.

O-okay.. Can he read minds?

“I can read expressions.” Baekhyun burst into a fit of soft giggles when Chanyeol gasped in horror and took a step back from him.

…It was a sweet sound.

“I don’t usually sleep in beds. In fact, I haven't slept in one in years. I end up sleeping right here..” he tapped on his work desk, “..whenever my physical body requires a nap.”

Strange. 

Baekhyun swiped across his wristwatch, tapping on it a few times before the screen went black again and a knock was heard on his room’s door a few seconds later. “Come in S.M.”

Saying Chanyeol was taken aback would be an understatement. A humanoid robot had just entered Baekhyun’s room with a tray and various crockeries on it.

“Meet S.M. One of my first A.I. creations. S.M. this is Chanyeol, Chanyeol this is S.M.”

The robot bowed. Chanyeol bowed back because.. well... uh..? 

“S.M.?”

“Sebastian Michaelis.”

“Don’t tell me... ” Chanyeol’s eyes widened in shock. “Black Butler?” 

“Yeah..” Baekhyun smiled nervously focusing on Chanyeol’s reaction. Baekbeom had told him about Chanyeol’s obsession with Black Butler back in his elementary school days which was right around the time Baekhyun was working with Hanson Robotics in order to create superior self-learning humanoid machines. He had dressed S.M. exactly like Sebastian.

Chanyeol continued to watch S.M. in fascination as he made them some hot chocolate and served it with a piece of vanilla sponge cake, before tucking the tray under his arm, politely bowing to both of them and closing the door on his way out.

They both took seats opposite a white metallic 7coffee table where S.M. had already prepared snacks for them.

“Please, help yourself.” Baekhyun gestured Chanyeol to have whatever he liked and he already knew that these items were both Chanyeol’s favorites.

 

 However, much to Baekhyun’s surprise, Chanyeol didn’t. Instead, he sat there looking tensed like he was fighting himself against something.

 

“Chan-”

 

“They destroyed my retreat spot today.”

 

Baekhyun stared at him in confusion, which was a rare phenomenon for him but then again Chanyeol was everything ‘rare’ in his life.

 

When their eyes met Beakhyun’s heart twisted painfully because Chanyeol’s eyes were reddening and he looked like he was fighting the tears threatening to flood his eyes. He looked sad, tired and lonely. Baekhyun wanted to comfort him but before he could Chanyeol spoke again, silencing him for good. 

“Your Alternate Resources something Team. That Air Farm shit. They completely ripped apart, piece by piece, my sole retreat spot at the Choi’s old cropfield, that took me 6 whole years of sweat and blood to build and maintain, in under five minutes right before my eyes.” Chanyeol hated that his lips were trembling. He hated how exposed he was feeling under the intense gaze of someone who obviously feels nothing. Someone who only uses his brain. Never his heart. 

Like when Chanyeol stayed up all night after school to make Baekhyun a friendship’s bracelet back when they were six, only to find it in Baekhyun’s trash can the next morning. It might have been itchy and made to the wrong proportions but wasn’t tossing it into the trash a bit too harsh? 

Like when their teacher had asked them to gift flowers to their friends on Valentine’s Day and Chanyeol searched the entire town to put together a small bunch of whites and pinks that would look the best when pinned to Baekhyun’s hair and outfit but Baekhyun didn’t get him anything. He probably felt bad for Chanyeol which is why he handed him a candy that was lying in one of the side pockets of his school bag.

Like when Baekhyun didn’t participate in any event during their first annual day so Chanyeol requested him to do something so that they can be together on the field that day and Baekhyun chose the exact same cookie baking competition Chanyeol was participating in. Obviously, no one can defeat Byun Baekhyun. He took away the only prize Chanyeol had desperately wanted, the fluffy Rai Kuma plushie to hug and sleep at night because his parents wouldn’t get him a pet and he was scared of the monsters under his bed. What hurt even more, was how Baekhyun didn’t even care for the plushie and put it outside his gate in a box for anyone to take. Chanyeol wanted to because he felt bad for the bear but it was Baekhyun’s prize. It felt wrong. So he didn’t.

 

“I hate this..” Chanyeol chuckled, exhausted and dejected. He gave in. Warm tears silently rolled down his cheeks. _I hate how you painfully trampled my heart every single time I dared to hope. Every single time I dared to care. Every single time I dared..._

He looked so broken. “Yeol-”

 

“I hate you, Baekhyun.” _..to share my heart with you._

 

That afternoon, standing outside the Byun’s mansion Chanyeol found himself feeling the exact same emotions he did standing in Choi’s corpfield ten years ago. That’s when the painful realization hit him. He had been lying to himself all these years. It wasn’t his father’s words, it wasn’t his sister’s laugh, it wasn’t the look on his mother’s face, it was his dearest friend’s departure and hence, betrayal, that had left him feeling agonizingly lonely and hollow that day. 

And ever since. 

He remembered how Baekhyun used to be his entire world back then and how he couldn’t blame Baekhyun for leaving when he found an amazing future prospect but at the same time he expected at least a hug or any reaction from Baekhyun before he left but all he got to see was his only friend’s back, walking away from him emotionlessly. As usual.

 

Baekhyun didn’t follow him outside. He was grateful for that, honestly. He didn’t want to feel any more embarrassed or hurt. He just wanted to be left alone.

 

Only if Chanyeol knew that Baekhyun didn’t really toss the friendship bracelet that Chanyeol gave him, into the trash can. It was one of his own that he was trying to make for Chanyeol copying the one Chanyeol had gifted him so that they could both have the same bracelets but he was failing miserably even with his genius IQ.

Only if he knew Baekhyun was all set to gift Chanyeol a beautiful bouquet of Pink Orchids ****** he had asked his father to get him that morning from this florist’s shop a few miles away from the mine he worked at, but he learnt from Yoora, on his way to school, that Chanyeol was allergic to Orchids and had to throw them all away. He only had an old candy in his bag. It was all he could give Chanyeol but he had to give him something. Chanyeol was his only friend after all. 

Only if he knew, Baekhyun participated in the Cookie Baking competition because he had tasted Chanyeol’s cookies the previous night and knew that his friend stood no chance of winning the Rai Kuma plushie he wanted so badly so he won it for Chanyeol but didn’t really have the courage to give it to him directly so he tried to give it to Mrs. Park but she refused to take it since it was a prize Baekhyun had earned, so he put it in a box outside his gate hoping Chanyeol would pick it up but he never did. 

He still has that plushie. 

Alongside the bracelet.

And those dried white and pink wildflowers, carefully framed and placed on his shelf. 

They were some of the few things in that small luggage bag he carried with him to the States, ten years ago.

 

—————————————————————————————————

 

Chanyeol’s friends had gotten so used to his early morning grumbling-ritual about how much he hated Byun Baekhyun that it was extremely uncomfortable to walk next to the soulless, listless giant he was today. 

While Tae Joon and Jong Hyun were busy debating over who should talk to Chanyeol first, Zico causally walked over to him and dropped the bomb. 

“So, I’m guessing you found out he isn’t that bad after all?”

Chanyeol was too zoned out to fathom his words. “Huh?” was the only response he could manage.

Zico walked around Chanyeol to stand in front of him and splayed his hand before Chanyeol’s face. “Stop!”

Chanyeol did. 

“Did you like..” Zico scratched his nape awkwardly, “..I don’t know, kind of finally realize that it wasn’t really hate, but too much love?”

Chanyeol had no idea what the guy was babbling. He just stared at Zico in confusion.

“That’s not how you do it, Zi.” Tae Joon cut in.

“Yeah. You need to slowly and steadily spell it out for him and then wait to let it sink in.” was Jong Hyun’s valuable input to the conversation,

and Chanyeol wondered why he was being humiliated all of a sudden.

“Watch and learn”, came Joon and Hyun’s collective statement as Zico stepped back and the two took his place. 

“So, why do you look like The Walking Dead just came to life?” Tae Joon enquired.

“I.. what?”

“Is this about Baekhyun? Did something happen between you two?” Jong Hyun asked, pushing Tae Joon aside who didn’t look very happy about that.

Chanyeol sighed.

“So, it is about Baekhyun. What happened? You can talk to us man.”  

Chanyeol sighed again, resuming his trance-like state and walked away leaving his friends utterly confused because Park Chanyeol always bluntly expressed himself. Brain-to-mouth filters were a myth in his case. This was the first time they had seen him behave this way. 

“Well, something definitely happened”, stated Zico and the other two nodded in agreement, pacing behind Chanyeol.

 

——————————————————————————————————

 

 

Chanyeol had come to class after two whole days.

 

Nothing had changed.

 

He had so far been scolded by his basketball coach, his homeroom teacher, his math teacher and his history teacher. Everyone obviously assumed he did that to try and run away from school work and responsibilities and he wouldn’t blame them because he was totally capable of doing something like that but sadly, this time he hadn’t. He simply couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed for the last two days. In fact, today was no different but Mrs. Park gave him an ultimatum and he had no choice but to unwillingly drag his ass to school. 

He felt bad that he was worrying people who cared for him but he was currently sitting at their usual lunch table in the cafeteria, poking the green peas on his plate with no appetite whatsoever, in fact, the very sight of food, especially greens, made him nauseous and he just wanted the day to end so that he could find solace in his duvets once again.

 

“Did you guys hear the rumor about Byun Baekhyun?” 

Chanyeol had no idea Sunny was sitting at their table until she spoke. Or more specifically, until she mentioned the ‘B’ word. She was one of the most popular girls in school along with eight others who for some strange reason liked to dress, walk and talk in a similar fashion and called themselves ‘The Girl’s Generation.’ She always knew everything unimportant for some strange reason too.

“What rumor?” Tae Joon was obviously more than interested. It was gossip after all. 

“Well, nothing is confirmed but there are these rumors floating around that his lover is coming to town.”

Chanyeol stomach was twisting in knots which he was sure was because he hadn’t eaten anything in two days and this whole conversation involving someone he didn’t want to have anything to do with, was making it unbearable to sit there and listen to it any longer.

That and also the fact that Zico and Jong Hyun were both side-eyeing him and he hated it.

“Damn! He has a lover? Is she from the States too?” 

“Fucking eat your lunch or I will.” Jong Hyun cut in stealing the largest piece of meat from Tae Joon’s plate and putting it on his.

“The fuck?” Tae Joon looked at Jong Hyun viciously. “Fine! Fucking eating the whole thing, I couldn’t care less. This tea..”, he pointed at Sunny with his chopsticks, “..tastes better than this stale meat”, he smiled evilly, pointing at the food on Jong Hyun’s plate.

Chanyeol’s scowl deepened. 

“Anyways, so yeah.” Tae Joon went back to focusing on his vital conversation with Sunny. “Is she pretty? Have you see her?”

“I haven’t personally met her yet but I’ve heard people talking about this since the last two days. He has such a perfect life, dammit I wish I was that girl!” 

Chanyeol didn’t know why people found Sunny cute. Until today she was only average in Chanyeol’s eyes but right now he would find sunk fart better.

“Yeah well, I think he probably met her when he was working abroad. If she isn’t older than him then she’s probably a genius too. Actually, I think she is a genius anyway. I mean one look at Byun Baekhyun and you know he’s not the type to waste his time on anyone average.” With that said, Tae Joon was smacked upside by Jong Hyun and soon the two engaged in a mock fight.

 

Chanyeol was way below average. He was well aware of that. Thanks to a certain someone’s cursed shadows he has had to live under all his life. 

He was too tired for this shit. He’s had a really long day. He just wants to get it over with. 

It was when he was about to get up and leave that he heard Sunny’s response to Zico’s “How did people find out?” and it made Chanyeol’s heart skip beats in strange ways. 

 

“People have seen him working really hard at the Choi’s old farm since the last two days. He’s fencing a small patch of land with cherry bushes and pink n’ white wildflower shrubs and growing green grass there. It has been made off limits for everyone, including his Wind Farm construction team. His employees have never seen him work with his bare hands on anything that wasn’t a machine. Everyone was shocked to see him on the field under the hot sun, working with soil and shovels. Moreover, he’s germaphobic. When questioned about his motives he simply said it was for someone he loved.”

 

She was saying something more but Chanyeol didn’t know because he had already left.

 

————————————————————————————

 

The sun was about to set in the horizon. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange, pinks, and purples with a few bright stars already adorning the evening sky. 

 

Chanyeol’s bicycle was abandoned somewhere on the outskirts of Choi’s old farm and he was jogging his way down to locate his retreat spot. His phone had run out of charge so he had to get there quickly or he wouldn’t be able to see anything in the dark.

Or maybe not.

He could see the lights already. His retreat spot had always been the most beautiful patch of land for him in the whole town but tonight it looked ethereal. The closer he got to it, the warmer he felt. Each shrub and bush that fenced the circular patch of land was adorned with hundreds of tiny fairy lights from top to bottom in an endless loop. There was a small golden gate on one cut in the fence, granting entrance into the lush green patch but it was locked. Electronically. Chanyeol put his hand over a small panel on the right side of the gates and the screen lit up asking for his handprint. He placed the palm of his right hand on the screen and the gates unlocked proceeding to automatically close themselves after Chanyeol stepped onto the green grass field.

 

“I knew you’d come.”

Chanyeol was startled by the familiar voice. Baekhyun was standing behind him in a calculated blind spot that a genius like him knew someone like Chanyeol would fail to notice.

“Rumours in small towns travel fast.” 

 

It was already dark outside. The moon was pretty big, even though it wasn’t a full moon night. An ocean of twinkling stars adorned the vast expanse of the night sky. Chanyeol was awestruck by the beauty of Baekhyun’s petite features illuminated by the fairy lights. It had been so long since he had last seen him. He had never gotten the chance to look at Baekhyun carefully ever since his return. He had grown up so much. He had to admit, he missed his old friend.

 

“I missed you too.”

Chanyeol sighed. He will never be able to hide his feelings from Baekhyun

“It’s not my fault you’re an open book”, Baekhyun giggled.

Chanyeol was glad it was too dark to see how red his ears were.

“Come on!”

 

And the next moment, their fingers were intertwined and Chanyeol was begin pulled towards the centre of the field where lay a fluffy white blanket on the grass and a worn out luggage bag. He hoped there was food in it because he was seriously hungry now.

 

———————————————————————————

* : Chanyeol and Baekhyun's ages are relative here. We know that they were born 6 months apart so the comparison is accordingly. When Chanyeol was 3 months old compared to when Baekhyun was 3 months old and so on.

 

** : Pink Orchids symbolize liking someone. It's like saying "I like you". Baekhyun was smart enough. He clearly meant it in a romantic way. lol.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment! Kudos too, if you liked it. I'd love to interact with you. Even though I'm really bad at socialising T_T I try. I hope you liked the story. Let me know in the comments below. Thank you! >_< <3
> 
> Update: I forgot to mention earlier, there will be a sequel soon! ^.^


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